Joseph John Matijevic (born November 14, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Tigres de Quintana Roo The Tigres de Quintana Roo (English: Quintana Roo Tigers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The team is part of the Southern Division (). The team has won twelve championships to date: ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Amateur career

Matijevic attended

Norwin High School Norwin High School is a public high school located in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, with a current enrollment of approximately 1,600 students in grades 9-12. It enrolls students from North Huntingdon, Irwin, and North Irwin and is part of th ...

in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he played baseball and basketball. The

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

selected him as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

in the 22nd round of the

2014 MLB Draft The 2014 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June 6, and the last 30 round ...

. He did not sign and enrolled at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. In 2015 and 2016, Matijevic played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, where he was named a league all-star in 2015.

Professional career

Houston Astros

Minor Leagues

The

selected Matijevic with the 75th overall selection of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on June 12, while the remai ...

. He signed with the Astros, receiving a $700,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, and was assigned to the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats are a professional baseball team based in Albany, New York. The ValleyCats compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was established in 2002, along with the ...

of the Low–A

New York-Penn League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, where he began his professional career. Matijevic was promoted to the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

of the Single–A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in August. In 59 games between the two teams, he hit .228 with seven home runs, 31 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. Matijevic began 2018 with Quad Cities. In May, the Astros promoted him to the

Buies Creek Astros The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

of the High–A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. In 101 games between both teams, he hit .277/.350/.538 with 22 home runs and 62 RBI. He began 2019 with the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

of the Double–A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. On April 30, Matijevic received a 50-game suspension after failing a second test for a drug violation. He was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

for the

Peoria Javelinas The Peoria Javelinas are a baseball team based in Peoria, Arizona, that competes in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex. The ballpark is also the spring training facility for the S ...

following the season. Matijevic did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He split the 2021 season between Corpus Christi and the Triple-A

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the G ...

, slashing .254/.341/.512 with 25 home runs and 75 RBI in 109 total games. The Astros invited Matijevic to

Spring Training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. He did not make the team at the outset of the season and was assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land, who had rebranded as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. He began the season batting .310 (13-for-42), .420 OBP, .714 SLG, 1.134 OPS, with four home runs, and 10 RBI over 11 games.

Major Leagues

After a hamstring injury to

Jose Altuve Jose Carlos Altuve (; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Having played for the Astros since 2011, he is the longest-tenured current member of the team, an ...

, the Astros called up Matijevic from Sugar Land on April 20,

. He made his major league debut on April 22 versus the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

in the ninth inning of a 4–3 loss. Matijevic struck out in his lone at bat. He received his first career start in the major leagues on April 27, manning first base versus the Texas Rangers. On June 19, Matijevic recorded his first major league hit, a home run, against

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

starter Michael Kopech, which landed in the Crawford Box seats at

Minute Maid Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

in a 4–3 Astros' win. In the bottom of the ninth inning versus the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

on July 21, Matijevic hit a walk-off infield single with the bases loaded to score

Alex Bregman Alexander David Bregman (born March 30, 1994) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros. As a high school sophomore at Albu ...

for a 3–2 win . Matijevic was optioned to the Triple-A

Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metro ...

to begin the 2023 season. He was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

on March 30, after Corey Julks and César Salazar were added to the roster. On April 3, he cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Sugar Land. In 118 games for Sugar Land, Matijevic batted .244/.329/.441 with 16 home runs, 76 RBI, and 8 stolen bases. He became a free agent following the season on November 6.

Dorados de Chihuahua

On April 10, 2024, Matijevic signed with the Dorados de Chihuahua of the

. In 31 games for Chihuahua, he batted .273/.347/.400 with two home runs and 15 RBI. On June 11, Matijevic was released by the Dorados.

Caliente de Durango

On June 12, 2024, Matijevic was claimed off release waivers by the Caliente de Durango of the

. In 38 games for Durango, Matijevic batted .361/.427/.489 with one home run, 18 RBI, and one stolen base.

Charleston Dirty Birds

On April 24, 2025, Matijevic signed with the Charleston Dirty Birds of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. In 26 appearances for Charleston, Matijevic batted .273/.374/.566 with eight home runs, 20 RBI, and four stolen bases.

Tigres de Quintana Roo

On May 31, 2025, Matijevic's contractual rights were traded to the

of the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matijevic, Jj 1995 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Arizona Wildcats baseball players Baseball players from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Buies Creek Astros players Caliente de Durango players Charleston Dirty Birds players Corpus Christi Hooks players Dorados de Chihuahua players Falmouth Commodores players Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Peoria Javelinas players Quad Cities River Bandits players Sugar Land Skeeters players Sugar Land Space Cowboys players Tigres de Quintana Roo players Tri-City ValleyCats players

Amateur career

Professional career

Houston Astros

Minor Leagues

Major Leagues

Dorados de Chihuahua

Caliente de Durango

Charleston Dirty Birds

Tigres de Quintana Roo

See also

References

External links